Americas violence fixation essay

From Region, Race, and Reconstruction: Essays in Honor of C. Morgan Kousser and James M.

Her first term spanned from toduring which she enjoyed massive public approval. Similar progress has been made throughout Latin America, with women now occupying seats in parliaments and presidential palaces across the region.

But in spite of these strides, violence against women and economic disparity between genders remain exceptionally high, leaving much room for progress in the Latin American quest for gender equality. InBachelet was the first woman to win a Chilean presidential election. Although Chinchilla will step down this spring, all of these women are in power today.

The total population of their countries is upwards of million — meaning that they collectively represent nearly half of Latin America. In that fight, these chief executives will have many powerful female allies in Latin American legislatures. In Latin America as a whole, women occupy more than a quarter of the total parliamentary seats.

This renders the region second only to Scandinavia, which is governed by parliaments that are 42 percent female on average. Given that the world average is The legacy of Lutz and other early 20th century advocates has been proudly carried on: Instead, contradictory heritages of feminism and patriarchy have determined the paths of Presidents Bachelet, Rousseff, Kirchner and Chinchilla.

In all six of the presidential elections they have won, these four women have received clear mandates from their countries. In her most recent election last December, Bachelet trounced her opponent — Evelyn Matthei — with 62 percent of the vote.

In her victory, Kirchner received 54 percent in the first round of voting, which was the best performance and biggest margin in that round since The wide margins of victory that these leaders have enjoyed are suggestive of a strong willingness — and even eagerness — on the part of Latin American voters to elect a woman.

But these promising results carry with them several hidden truths. Each of the four female presidents currently in power had strong ties to the men who preceded them, suggesting that their rise to power — however groundbreaking — still relied on support from the male establishment.

Bachelet served as health minister and then defense minister under Chilean President Ricardo Lagos Escobar interviewed on page 40who enjoyed widespread popularity.

When Lula stepped down as president, his approval rating was above 80 percent and he drew immense support from the poor northeastern part of the country. BeforeRousseff had never run for elected office. She succeeded his administration in after being elected to the presidency.

Similarly, the rise of women to parliaments in Latin America has been made possible mostly through significant institutional efforts. InArgentina implemented a quota requiring that a minimum of 30 percent of legislative candidates be women.

Today, similar quotas exist in more than a dozen countries in the region. There is a great deal of variability in these laws, in terms of both the percentage they require ranging from 20 to 50 percent and the degree to which they are enforced.

There is also variability in how the quotas are implemented: Some quota regulations contain loopholes that make them ineffective, while others have proven immensely vital to the promotion of female politicians.

In some countries, party efforts to attract women voters have led to quota systems despite a lack of central government policies. Overall, the quota system has proven to be effective in quickly offsetting male-dominated platforms where women used to be largely overlooked.

These four leaders also came to power at ideal times, benefiting from strong support for their parties in other parts of government. This should facilitate the implementation of her agenda for more socioeconomic equality in Chile. Like Bachelet and Kirchner, Rousseff began her term alongside a congressional sweep by her party and its coalition.

After weathering large-scale street protests last year, Rousseff remains the strong favorite in opinion polls for the next presidential election, to be held in October. As a result of their popular support, these female leaders have the potential not only to advance causes of wide appeal, but also to push forward more contestable policies on social and economic inequality, such as divorce and abortion rights.

And yet progress for women outside of the electoral sphere is far less forthcoming.I completed this essay while a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Smithsonian Institution.

Patterns of Race in the Americas (New York, ), pp. Fixation on this artificial dichotomy vitiates the otherwise interesting analysis of William J.

Wilson. Review Essay March/April Issue Security Strategy & Conflict. Read More On War & Military Strategy Freedman may be right that a fixation on the recent past makes mispredicting hard to avoid.

Africa Americas Asia Europe Middle East Russia & FSU Global Commons. The United States of America is based upon freedom and democracy with the belief of individualism.

This belief of freedom and individualism brings about conflict between others, which tends to lead to violence. What is the cause of this violence?

It is happening everywhere, in the households, out on the streets, even in our schools. Violence is an expression of aggression. There can be various reasons that cause this kind of behaviour.

Various unfavourable social situations or circumstances in life affect an individual. Short Essay on Violence. Violence is the aggressive behaviour showcased by . America has a violence problem. We love violence. We pay to watch violence at the movies. Parents pay money for kids to play violent video games.

Certain businesses make money off of violence. We cheer when there is a fight in hockey. Mixed Martial Arts is more violent than boxing and its ratings have been skyrocketing.